48 
Psyche 
[June 
sitarches, containing' mature males, were found in the 
juniper woods within forty feet of the swarms. The males 
of the garbage-pit swarm seemed to appear in four prin- 
cipal “waves” during the observation period. 
Females flew in slow, even circles through the swarms 
of males. No more than five were seen in a single swarm 
at a given time. Each persisted only several minutes or 
less (in one case, five minutes) before being mounted by 
a male and dropping from the swarm. The complete act 
of mating was observed on six occasions. In each case 
the male seized the female from above, whereupon both 
ceased flying and spiralled to the ground together. Upon 
reaching the ground, and not before, the male inserted its 
genitalia, taking from several seconds to nearly a minute 
to complete the act. After attachment, the male remained 
perfectly immobile, while the female either remained im- 
mobile or (on two occasions) proceeded to walk slowly 
over the ground. The male remained attached for one to 
two minutes and was finally dislodged by the female, who 
doubled up and pushed the male away with her head or 
(in one case) pinched the male’s abdomen gently until it 
released its hold. 
On two other occasions the pair broke apart while fall- 
ing from the swarm, thus thwarting copulation. In both 
cases the separated individuals immediately took flight 
again upon reaching the ground, or at least attempted to 
do so. It is interesting to note at this point that occasion- 
ally females would light on the observer’s shirt when he 
stood too near the swarm. The males in the swarm made 
no attempt to approach them under these conditions, and 
it was clearly necessary for them to re-enter the swarm 
in order to be successfully mated. 
Following successful copulation, the males did not at- 
tempt to fly again but walked about on the ground, soon 
to fall prey to the legions of Conomyrma pyramica workers 
that were foraging everywhere in the vicinity. Some of 
the females may have also succumbed to the attacks of 
the Conomyrma workers, but this was never observed. 
Immediately after copulation those that were followed by 
the observer proceeded to walk along at a steady but un- 
